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Aston Villa's Herd pulls out of Socceroos squad

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has confirmed that Chris Herd has withdrawn from the Australian national team squad.

The Socceroos are due to play Ecuador in London on Wednesday night UK time (Thursday morning AEDT) but will now be without the Aston Villa midfielder/defender.

Herd, who has only appeared twice in the Premier League this season, had been selected in an initial squad to play Ecuador at Millwall's The Den in Bermondsey but has now been replaced by Jeonbuk defender Alex Wilkinson.

A statement from Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou read: "We have been made aware that Chris will be unavailable for selection at club level until further notice as he works through some personal issues and we will respect that and have replaced him in the squad for the Ecuador game."

A statement from Aston Villa added: "The club can confirm that due to personal reasons Chris Herd will be unavailable for selection until further notice.

"There will be no further comment and we request that Chris' privacy be respected."